USA > New York > Westchester County > Little visits to historical points in Westchester County > Part 5
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MANORS OF WESTCHESTER CO.
THE MANOR OF PELHAM.
Arme .- ermine, on a canton, azure, a pelican or, vulned gules. Crest .- on a chaplet vert flowered, or, a pelican of the last vulned gules. ( Granted October 19th 1594.)
The founder of the house of Pell was John Pell, Esq., of Norfolk County, England, Master of the King's Cup, who married Margaret Overend, daughter of William of Norfolk; he died February 1607.
The name Pelham is of Saxon origin and compounded of two words Pel, remote, and Ham, mansion.
The first Manor formed in the present County of Westchester was owned by Thomas Pell, and obtained by him partly by purchase from the Indians, and partly by grant of Nov- ember 14, 1654. It included an immense tract of land originally embracing 9,166 acres extend- ing from the eastern confines of Cornell's Neck, and reaching to the Mamaroneck purchase of John Richbell. Previous to Pell's purchase, in the
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year 1642, Anne Hutchinson, to avoid the bitter persecutions of the Puritans, fled here for protec- tion, and commenced a plantation. Later Mrs. Hutchinson and family consisting of sixteen persons were all killed by the Indians. After
considerable legal contest Pell parted with all that section of land below Hutchinson River, and immediately turned his attention to the erection of the remainder into one imposing estate. This was accomplished by letters patent procured from Governor Nicolls on October 8, 1666, a document under which the first Manor of West- chester County was organized. The boundaries given it were Hutchinson River on the west, and Cedar Tree Brook, or Gravely Brook, on the east; and it was to include "all the Islands in the Sound, not already granted or otherwise disposed of, lying before that tract, and to run into the woods about eight English miles in breadth."
The whole was declared to be "an enfran- chised township, manor, and place by itself."
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and to be entirely free from the "rules, orders, or directions of any riding, township, or townships, place or jurisdiction, either upon the main or upon the Island of Nassau," as Long Island was then called. The proprietor was to pay an- nually to the Duke of York, "one lamb upon the first day of May if the same should be demanded."
Thomas Pell died in 1669, three years after obtaining from Governor Nicolls the manorial patent for his magnificent estate on the Sound, stretching from Hutchinson River to Richbell's Mamaroneck grant; tradition says that he perished in a gale while upon a pleasure excursion in his own yacht off City Island; and was buried in Fairfield, Connecticut. His will, dated September 21, 1669, bequeathed all his possessions, except certain per- sonal bequests, to his nephew John Pell, then resid- ing in England, the only son of his only brother the Rev. John Pell D.D. John Pell the successor of Thomas thus became the second Lord of the Manor of Pelham. He arrived in America, and
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entered into his proprietorship in the summer of 1670. On October 25, 1687, a new royal patent of Pelham Manor was issued to him by Governor Dongan; the reason for this proceeding being, as stated in the patent, that he desired a "more full and firm grant and confirmation of his lands." The bounds of the manor as specified in the new instrument were precisely the same as those pre- scribed in the Nicoll's patent, but the dignities attaching to the manorial lordship were somewhat more elaborately defined, and, instead of paying to the royal government as quit-rent, "one lamb on the first day of May" as had been required of Thomas Pell, he was to pay "twenty shillings good and lawful money of this province" "on the five and twentyeth day of March." He mar- ried in 1685 Rachel, daughter of Philip Pinckney, one of the first proprietors of East Chester. He resided on his estate and seems to have taken an active part in the affairs of Westchester County having been appointed by Governor Andros
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August 27, 1688, the first judge of Westchester County; serving as delegate from that County, in the provincial assembly from 1691 to 1695. He died in 1702. The most notable event of John Pell's administration of his Manor, was the conveyance by him through the celebrated Jacob Leisler of 6,000 acres as a place of settlement for the Huguenots, a transaction out of which resulted the erection of the City of New Rochelle .* By this sale the Manor of Pelham embracing 9, 166 acres was reduced to one-third of its original dimensions. After this the Manor never enjoyed a very conspicuous part among the great original landed estates of Westchester Counry. But the Manor was preserved as such, until the death of the last "Lord" Joseph Pell in 1776. Pelham Manor was incorporated as a village in 1891.
*See New Rochelle Little Visits.
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MANOR OF SCARSDALE.
Heathcote Arms .- Ermine three pomeis, each charged with a cross or. Crest. - A mural crown azure, a pomeis as in the arms, between two wings displayed, ermine.
Motto. - Deus prosperat justos.
Colonel Caleb Heathcote first lord of the Manor of Scarsdale was a representative of the ancient family of Heathcotes of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. The Colonel came to America in 1692, and the first year of his arrival attained a seat in the council.
On March 21st, 1701, letters patent for the Manor of Scarsdale were issued to Caleb Heath- cote by King William III. through his deputy Lieutenant-Governor Nanfan. Its bounds are not very clearly described in that document. According to the spirit of the grant, its north- ward projection was to be a distance of twenty miles, as in the original Richbell patent; but express proviso was made that no further title should be given to Heathcote than that which he
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"already hath to ye lands called ye White Plains, which is in dispute between ye said Caleb Heath- cote and some of the inhabitants of ye Town of Rye."
In point of fact Scarsdale Manor was always limited at the north by the White Plains tract, Heathcote never having been able to legally establish his claim to the disputed lands; the north- ern line of the Manor followed the Mamaroneck River from its mouth for about two miles, and thence proceeded to the Bronx; at the west and east it was bounded respectively by the Bronx and the Sound; on the south it was bounded by lands belonging to Cornelius Steenwyck. Caleb Heath- cote, in buying from Mrs. Richbell her title to most of the present Township of Mamaroneck and other lands, embracing White Plains, Scarsdale and a part of North Castle, paid for his acquisition only £600. The quit-rent for the Manor of Scarsdale was £5. current money of New York, upon the Nativity of our Lord. Appended to
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most of the quit-rent leases was the significant- statement that the prescribed payment was to be "in lieu of all rents, services, and demands what- ever;" apparently inserted to emphasize the well understood fact, that the manor grants were strict- ly in the line of public policy, and were in no way intended to become a source of revenue to the government.
The influence exerted by Caleb Heathcote was manifested not only in his own Manor, but elsewhere; he was frequently called upon to arbitrate serious difficulties, and always decided on the side of honor and justice; he was a man of perfect honesty and openness, free from all meanness, low craft, and servility; to the man- liest of personal qualities he added brilliant abil- ities, an extraordinary capacity for public affairs, and an affability and grace of manner which made him an object of general admiration and affection.
The Manor of Scarsdale patented by Colonel Caleb Heathcote in 1701 had only a nominal con-
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tinuance after his death, 1721. He left no male heir to take a personal interest in the development of the property, as one of the great family estates of Westchester County. Caleb Heathcote's daughters Ann and Martha married respectively James de Lancey of New York and Dr. Lewis Johnston of Perth Amboy, New Jersey .*
The importance of the Manorial proprietor- ships in Westchester County, in their relations to its political and social character and to its eventful history for a hundred years, cannot be overesti- mated. All the founders of the six Manors were men of forceful traits, native ability, and wide in- fluence. With a single exceptiont, they left their estates, entirely undiminished and unimpaired, ei- ther to children or immediate kinsmen, who in turn, by their personal characters and qualities, as well as by their marital alliances, solidified the already
*For further information on this subject see Rikeman's History of Mamaroneck to be issued in the Fall.
+John Archer of Fordham.
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substantial foundations which had been laid, and greatly strengthened the social position and enlar- ged the sphere of their families. To enumerate the marriages contracted during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in the male and female lines, by the van Cortlandts, the Philipses, the Morrises, the Pells, and the descendants of Caleb Heathcote, would involve almost a complete re- capitulation of the most conspicuous and wealthy New York families of the entire colonial period, besides many prominent families of other provinces. To the Westchester manorial families belonged some of the most noted and influential Americans of their times; men of shining talents, fascinating manners, masterful energy, and splen- did achievement; statesmen, orators, judges, and soldiers, who were among the principal popular leaders and civic officials of the province, and who won renown both in public service and in the field during the Revolution. Alike to the patriot cause and the Tory faction these families
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contributed powerful and illustrious supporters.
The tenants in each case were controlled largely by the proprietor, and thus an acute divi- sion of sentiment and sympathies was occasioned which, in connection with the unique geographical position of this county in its relation to the contending forces of the Revolution, caused it to be torn by constant broils, and to be devastated by innumerable conflicts and depredations."
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PUBL TORY
CROTON AQUEDUCT ARCH, OSSINING.
Croton, N.Y. ..
Vol. I. MAY 1902. No. 5
LITTLE VISITS
TO HISTORICAL
POINTS IN
WESTCHESTER
COUNTY
PART FIVE
BY AN AUTHORITY
OSSINING and CROTON.
MAMARONECK, N. Y. . PUBL ISHED BYTHE RICHBELL PRESS · MC MI I
Copyrighted 1902 BY J. WALLACE CLAPP.
PUBLISHED THE FIRST OF EVERY · MONTH . BY
The Richbell Press . J. Wallace Clapp . Mamaroneck . N. Y.
Entered Taly . . ..
LITTLE VISITS TO HISTORICAL POINTS IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY
OSSINING and CROTON.
T HE Indian orthography of Ossining is variously written; Sin Sing, Sin Sinck, and Sink Sink the word is derived from ossin, a stone, and ing, a place, or stone upon stone; a name exceedingly charac- teristic of this beautiful town, whose coast is guarded by a vast munition of rocks and ancient boulders.
At a very early period Ossining constituted a part of the possessions of a powerful Mohegan clan called the Sin Sing. April 22, 1643, ap- peared before the Dutch Director-General Kieft
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OSSINING and CROTON
in Fort Amsterdam, Oratatrim, sachem of Ack- kin-kas-hacky, who declared he was deputed by those of Tappan, Reekgawanck, Kitchawan, Croton, and Sin Sing, to conclude a peace with the Dutch in the following manner, viz .: that all the injustices committed by the said nations against the Netherlanders, or by the Netherlanders against said nations, shall be forgiv- en and forgotten forever; they reciprocally promis- ing one another to cause no trouble the one to the other; but whenever the Indians understand that any nation not mentioned in this treaty might be plotting mischief against the Christians, that they will give timely warning, and not admit such a nation within their own limits. To secure and confirm this peace, presents were given 'on both sides, while God is prayed to that this peace may be duly observed by the Indians. August 30, 1645 Aepjen, chief sachem of the Mohegans, personally appeared at Fort Amsterdam as a delegate to the general council held there, in behalf of the
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OSSINING and CROTON
Wappinecks, the Weckquaesqueecks, the Sin Sing and the Kitchawan*
In the year A. D. 1653, the Sin Sing appear to have been without a chief.
On the early Dutch maps of Van der Donck 1656, and Nicolaus Johannes Visschers 1659, an Indian settlement, Kestaubuiuck, was placed between Sin Sing and Kitchawan or Croton; it was perhaps merely a small collection of wigwams, as we find no further mention of the name.
The first grantee, under the Indians of Ossining, was Frederick Philipse to whom on August 24, 1685, they released "all that tract of land or parcel of land situate, lying and being by the northermost part of the land late purchased by Frederick Philipse and so running alongst the Hudson's river to the creek or river called Kitchawan and called by the Indians Sin Sing, with the use of half the said creek, and from thence running up the country upon a due east
*Dr. O. Callaghan's History N.N. p. 356.
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line till it comes to a creek called Nepperan, by the Christian's Younckers creek, and so running alongst said creek till it comes to the northerly bounds of the said land of Mr. Frederick Philipse, and from thence alongst the said land till it comes to Hudson's river together with," etc., etc. The grantors were: Weskenane, Crawman, Wappus, Keanarham, Wennicktanon, Aquaines, Mamannane, Weremenhore.
Here followeth the schedule or particular of the goods paid by the grantee for the above said lands.
50 feet black wampum, 12 blankets,
100 feet white wampum, 12 fathom stroudwater,
II kettles,
12 large ditto,
50 lbs. of powder, 30 bars of lead,
15 fathom trade cloth,
20 axes,
12 guns,
I 5 hoes,
1 5 shirts, 40 knives,
12 pair of stockings, 20 stone jugs,
2 ankers of rum, I iron chain,
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OSSINING and CROTON
I2 drawing knives, 2 rolls of tobacco,
6 adzes, 2 pistols .*
This Indian purchase was confirmed to his son Philip Philipse by royal patent, dated Janu- ary 12, 1686, under the hand and seal of his Excellency Thomas Dongan, Governor of the Province.
On the death of Frederick Philipse, in_1700 this portion of the Manor of Philipsburgh passed by will to his second son Adolph Philipse, who dying in 1749, the property became vested in the Hon. Frederick Philipse, grandson of the first owner. The last mesne lord was Colonel Frederick Philipse with whose attainder Ossin- ing and Croton passed into the possession of other proprietors, who purchased under the Commissioners of Forfeitures appointed in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of the State passed May 12, 1784.
The Kitchawan or as it is now called Croton *Alb. Book of Pat. v. 90.
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OSSINING and CROTON
was the boundary line between the van Cortlandt and Philipse Manors.
The name Croton is said to have been adopt- ed from an illustrious sachem of that name who resided here at an early period. In all the early deeds the river is called Kitchawan.
Judge Benson, in his returns to the New York Historical Society, states that Croton is a corruption of the name of a chief who lived and exercised his authority at the mouth of this stream. It is clearly a derivative from Knotin, or Knoten, or as it was oftener used without the prefix, meaning in either case the wind or tempest. According to tradition the Indian castle of Kitchawan occupied a commanding position on the neck proper overlooking the Croton and Harvestraw bays. This site was chosen for the purpose of protecting the fisheries, and overawing the neighboring tribes. The Cortlandt Manor house was built on this very site; it is supposed that this mansion was
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OSSINING and CROTO
erected in 1533, and was originally intended as a trading post and fort. The building
was subsequently enlarged and occupied by the van Cortlandt family. This house was built with very thick stone walls, pierced with loop- holes for musketry, all of which have been filled in, save one in what is now the sittingroom, which is preserved as a memento of olden times and of the antiquity of the building. Situated just where the road from Ossining to Croton Landing crosses the wide mouth of the Croton River, where that stream enters into the Hudson, it commands a magnificent view of the broad Tappan Zee. In former times the ferry cross the Croton River mouth, which was the only means of reaching the country above with- out making a wide detour, had its northern terminus near the mansion. The house has been continuously occupied by the descendants of Stephanus; the present occupants are Mr. van Cortlandt and Miss Anna van Cortlandt. Queel 194
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OSSINING and CROTON
The beautiful neck, now known as Croton Point and seperated from Ossining by the Croton River, which here forms a charming bay, was called by the Indians Senasqua; at an early period this point or neck passed from the native Indian proprietors to William and Sarah Teller, husband and wife, who it is said received it as a gift. After William Teller's death his widow held possession of the property, and the neck was known to the Skippers as Sarah's Point; it is certain that prior to 1748, Sarah Teller held the neck as tenant at sufferance under the van Cortlandt family.
A branch of the Teller family were early connected with the van Cortlandts by marriage, Andrew Teller in 1671 having married Sophia, daughter of the Right Hon. Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt.
Upon July 14, 1800, the heirs of William Teller conveyed part of the neck to Elijah Morgan of Cortlandt-town; November 6, 1804,
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OSSINING
CROTON
Elijah Morgan, Jr., and Ann his wife resold the same to Robert Underhill; on August 16, 1804, Robert McCord and wife conveyed another portion of the neck to Robert Underhill; upon the death of the latter individual the whole be- came vested in his two sons, and was known as Underhill's Point.
This Neck is now an extensive vinevard containing two and a half miles ot grape vines, from which are gathered annually immense quantities of luscious grapes, so thoroughly ap- preciated that they have a world-wide reputation, as Croton Point Grapes.
The marble deposits at Ossining contain minute grains of iron pyrites, thus causing the stone to become stained in course of time by the action of sea air, although in other respects it is an admirable building stone. Early in the past century silver was discovered in Ossining a little south of the landing; naturally the announce- ment of the discovery of precious metal caused
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OSSINING and CROTON
great excitement in the town, and, to add to the commotion, copper was found not far from the silver mine; a great rush for Sing Sing set in, and realty advanced accordingly.
Both of these ventures are of historical interest representing no actual successfully productions of a definite character. A little east of Ossining is the Chappaqua Mineral Spring, supposed to possess medicinal virtues.
The beginning of the gigantic Croton Aque- duct enterprise dates from about 1831. "On No- vember 10, 1832, the joint committee on fire and water of the New York City common council engaged Colonel De Witt Clinton, a competent engineer, to examine the various sources and routes of water supply which had been suggested up to that time, and to make a careful report on the subject. Colonel Clinton recommended the Croton water shed as the source of supply, and demonstrated by unanswerable facts that no other source adequate to the ultimate needs of the
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City was available. This report marks the begin- ning, as a serious undertaking, of the project to conduct the Croton water to New York City." 8
Early in 1700 a reservoir was built on what is now Fourth Avenue just below Art Street, and wooden pipes were connected with a pretty little lake or pond back of the site now occupied by the Bible House. From this reservoir water was distributed to certain parts of the City. This however did not meet the growing needs of the people; and soon after the Revolution an organization called the Manhattan Company was empowered to draw water from Westchester County, but it contented itself with sinking two large wells and distributing their contents to customers. The increasing population demanded a more complete and convenient system. Various committees were appointed, and surveys made, and the Bronx was suggested as a suitable supply. Colonel Clinton was called upon to undertake a final investigation of the questions
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CROTON
involved
At the session of May 2. 1834, the Legislature passed an act authorizing the reap- pointment of water commissioners, and directing the commissioners to adopt a definite plan for procuring a supply of water.
The commissioners selected Major Douglass as their chief engineer, and on July 6, 1835, that gentleman, with fifteen assistants took the field for preliminary work in our County. Their first care was stake out the lake to be formed by damming the Croton, which as at first calculated would have an area of 496 acres. But it was nearly two years before construction work was actually begun. The land owners along the proposed line made vexations demands, among them the extraordinary one that the legal pos- session and use of the land should remain with the original proprietors, notwithstanding the circumstance of its having been paid for by the City. The legislature endeavored to conciliate
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the landowners with but little success. The consequence of this discontent was that the commissioners were unable to purchase the lands along the line. In 1836 Major Douglass was superseded by Mr. J. B. Jervis, under whose direction the whole work was carried to comple- tion. On April 26, 1837, bids were opened "for furnishing the materials and completing the construction of twenty-three sections of the
Croton Aqueduct, including the dam in the Croton, the aqueduct bridge over Sing Sing Kill, and the necessary excavations and tunnelling on the line of about eight and one-half miles from the Croton to Sing Sing Village", three years being allowed for the fulfillment of these contracts.
By December 1, 1837, 2,455 feet of the aqueduct had been completed, and during the next year the whole of the work in Westchester County, thirty-three miles in length, had either been finished or placed under contract.
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In the Croton's course through Westchester County it receives as tributaries the Muscot, Titicus, Cross and Kisco Rivers. The Muscot is the outlet of the celebrated Lake Mahopack in Putman County, and the Cross or Peppexeg- hock of Lake Waccabuc one of the largest of the Westchester Lakes. The Croton water-shed lies almost wholly in the State of New York, although draining a small area in Connecticut. It extends about forty miles north and south and fifteen miles east and west, and has an area of 359 square miles above Croton Dam. This water-shed embraces thirty-one lakes and ponds in Westchester and Putnam Counties, many of which have been utilized as natural storage basins in connection with the New York City water sup- ply, by cutting down their outlets and building dams across.
Besides Croton Lake, there are two very large reservoirs in our County incidental to the Croton system; the Titicus Reservoir near
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Purdy's, and the Amawalk Reservoir.
Croton Lake is by far the most extensive sheet of water in the County. It is formed by a dam about five miles east of the mouth of the Croton, and has a length of more than eleven miles. From the lake two aqueducts the "Old" and the "New" lead to New York City; the former is thirty-eight and the latter thirty- three miles long, the distance in each case being measured to the receiving reservoir which crosses the Harlem River over High Bridge: the New is carried underneath the stream.
The original water commissioners were appointed in 1833 and retired in 1840: they were Stephen Allen, B. M. Brown, S. Dusen- berry, S. Allen and William W. Fox.
May 2, 1834, the legislature passed an act authorizing that a sum not exceeding $2,500,000 should be raised as "Water Stock of the City of New York," bearing five per cent inte The commissioners through re-examination of the
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matter expressed the opinion that "the whole Croton River could be brought to Murray Hill, 42d. Street, in a close aqueduct of masonry at an expence of $4,250,000," and that the revenue accuring from water-rates would "overpay the interest on the cost of the works." The dam
across the Croton River was commenced in Jan- uary 1838, and was completed about the end of 1840. This dam was formed of "hydraulic stone masonry, connected with an earthen embank- ment," the embankment being two hundred and fifty feet long, sixty-five feet high at its extreme height, two-hundred and fifty feet wide at the base, and fifty-five feet wide at the top, "protect- ed on its lower side by a heavy protection wall twenty feet wide at the base." "On the night of January 7, 1841, in consequence of a sudden and great rise in the water of the Croton, the portion of the dam comprised in the earthen embankment gave way, and the whole country below was flooded. Three bridges, Tompkins
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